EU welcomes Israeli shift on Gaza

The European Union has welcomed yesterday’s announcement by Israel that it will relax its blockade of the Gaza strip.

In an official statement, Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said she was “very encouraged” by the Israeli government’s announcement that it will ease the blockade. The announcement “represents a significant improvement and a positive step forward”, the statement said. “Once implemented, Israel’s new policy should improve the lives of the ordinary people of Gaza while addressing the legitimate security concerns of Israel.”

Ashton also made it clear that the EU expected the new measures to take effect as soon as possible and that they would not be sufficient to address the problem of Gaza. “More work remains to be done,” she said. “Implementation is key.”

The new measures announced after a meeting of Israel’s security cabinet yesterday (20 June) will allow a higher volume of goods to be processed through existing border crossings from Israel. They will also allow in construction materials, which Israel views as having a dual civilian and military use, for projects under international supervision.

Israel’s government also said that it will replace the current list of goods whose transfer to Gaza is permitted with a list of prohibited goods, which would remove uncertainty and significantly expand the items allowed into the territory. The government said that it would publish “a list of items not permitted into Gaza that is limited to weapons and war materials, including problematic dual-use items”. “All items not on this list will be permitted to enter Gaza,” the statement said.

The shift had been trailed by Tony Blair, the international Middle East envoy, on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers last Monday (14 June).

Israel and Egypt have maintained a blockade on the Gaza strip since Hamas, a radical Islamist group, took control of the territory in 2007, although Israel already had a more limited blockade in place following the abduction of Gilad Shalit, a member of the Israel Defence Forces, the previous year. Ashton also called for Shalit to be released.